May, 2019
I am writing on this subject, after hearing a sermon which claimed Jesus had to suffer in Hell, after dying on the cross to pay a penalty each human has to pay for their sins.
So here I present some Scriptures that shed light into this doctrine.
Then He will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; Mat 25:41 (That is Hell)
The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. Rev 19:20 (thrown in Hell)
Pay attention that Satan, that is the devil, is not thrown in Hell yet, that is, before the coming “one thousand years millennium”, as the text in the passage, following that narrative reads…
1- I saw an angel coming down out of Heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2- He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the -whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time. Rev 20:1-3
Later on after those thousand years, Satan is freed for a "short time" and then he is finally thrown in Hell too.
The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Rev 20:10
As we can see, when Jesus said in Mat 25:4… the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; that is “Hell", and has been prepared as a place of torment for them, not that the devil & his angels are going to be running the place.
We read about the judgment of God to unbelievers in the following passage in…
Rev 20:11 I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. 12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works.14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
Notice that people & angels are thrown in there, “the lake of fire”, but also Hades which is a spiritual prison will also be thrown in Hell, only after the judgment past out at the “great white throne” This is called the "second death".
It is obvious the Devil, Satan is not in Hell now, and has never been there yet, since it is God's Hell, prepared by God for the devil and his angels, there are many passages that indicate the devil has been free running around this physical world as its god, since the beginning of Creation, even appearing before God’s presence at times.
Job 1:6-7 Now on the day when God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them. Yahweh said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”Matthew & Luke chapters 4, Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness.
Eph 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.
1Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:
There are many more passages where we see the devil operating in this word, but let those suffice for the moment.
So that means the devil is still free, and he is thrown out of the heavenly regions down to
the Earth in Rev 12:9 The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Notice that Christians are not judged with unbelievers in that "Great White Throne" of judgment, but before the millennium or the thousand years mentioned in Rev 20:3, but at the judgment seat of Christ. Rev 20:4 Psalm 1:5, 2Cor 5:10, at this time is when crowns & other recompenses to the Believers will be handed out.
The question is: Where did Jesus go right after He died on the cross & before his resurrection? Was He tormented in hell to finish paying for our sins, as I have heard some people preach?
I believe the most important passage to help us see where Jesus went right after his death on the Cross, is when one of the criminals crucified next to him said to him…
Luk 23:42-43 He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Jesus said to him, “Surely I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Since Jesus’ answer was: that very same day they would be together in Paradise, then we deduct that after they both died that day, then their spirits went there to Paradise that very same day, as Jesus knew where He was going.
Well, I imagine Jesus walking in Paradise with his arm around the Saint who died by his side on the Cross, loving him & sheering him up, (the criminal now made a Saint by the sacrifice of Jesus ON THE CROSS).
Let’s remember Jesus told Mary Magdalene after his Resurrection that He had not ascended to the Father yet, we figure that Paradise is not up in Heaven where the Father is.
Jn 20:16-17 Jesus said to her, Mary! Turning, she said to him in Hebrew, Rabboni! (which is to say, Master). Jesus said to her, Do not put your hand on me, for I have not gone up to the Father: but go to my brothers and say to them, I go up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.
The question is: where was Paradise located?
Well, we know the first Paradise was where God put Adam & Eve, the Garden of Eden. After Adam & Eve were kicked out of that Paradise, God set armed Cherubims, so that men couldn't go back in there. Gen 3:24
Now we read in the Old Testament that Godly people when they died they went to a place under the Earth to join their loved ones, I will just give you one example, but if you look it up, you will see this was the case with all the patriarchs…
Gen 25: 8 Abraham gave up his spirit, and died at a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people.
In the Old Testament there are two places commonly named to where the dead would go: Sheol and Abaddon.
Abaddon is concretely Hades of the New Testament, according to Strong's dictionary.
Jesus sheds the light in this subject in Luke 16, where He tells us about Abraham’s bosom=Paradise, & Hades.
In the story of Luke 16:22-23 The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
Note that Abraham was not yet in Heaven where God's Throne is but in a place he, Abraham, was in charge of where the spirits of just men would go, whereas the rich man was sent to Hades, a place of torment where according to 2Pe 2:9 the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.
The word “hell” is misused in the KJV & many other Bible translations, if you look at the word for Hell used in the original you´ll find out it is referring to Hades.
The question is: was the rich man thrown in hell? No, the original Greek says he was sent to Hades.
ᾅδης is the Greek word for "Hades" used by Luke in his Gospel.
2Peter 2 tells us that some of the rebellious angels are already in spiritual prisons in Tartarus waiting for the judgment day.
2Pe 2:4 For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment;
2:9 the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the Day of Judgment.
As we read in this passage Tartarus, many English translations, like the King James Bible use the word "hell" instead of Tartarus which is the word used by the apostle Peter and which the Thayer dictionary defines as: the name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds; it answers to Gehenna of the Jews.
Also according to History & Mythology teachers, Tartarus is a part of Hades whereas Hades is the underworld.
But notice that the apostle Peter under the anointing of the Holy Spirit says that it is a place to "to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment", which seems to be the case with the rich man of Luke 16.
Luke 16:23 In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
If in Hades, the rich man could lift up his eyes, and see Abraham’s bosom. Then both places are under the earth & not that far enough from each other.
Where have some people gotten the idea that the devil & his angels are in charge of running hell, or Hades? Well there's not one Scripture in the whole Bible that even hints that idea. If the fallen angels of the Pre-Flood world Gen 6, are confined in Hades, it doesn’t say they run the place, it says they are tormented there, would the devil be tormenting his own people over there? Remember a house divided against itself it cannot stand? Lk 11:17
That Satan received the kingdoms from this world from Adam doesn’t mean he was also put of Hades.
Even when we see the followers of the Beast being thrown in Hell, it is before the presence of God…
9 Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. Rev 14:9-10
So the very first ones that are thrown in Hell are… The beast (who is the Antichrist) was taken, and with him the false prophet (who is the false prophet who works along side with the Antichrist. Rev 13)
So… Where did Jesus go right after He died on the cross?
It is very clear as several passages in the New Testament reveal Jesus descended first into the lower parts of the earth, & where many spirits waiting for Him, especially the saints from the Old Testament, waiting to be taken to God´s presence, now that their sins had been fully redeemed & paid for with the “Blood of Jesus” as we read in the next passages.
Did Jesus have to suffer the penalty of going into hell with the wicked ones to pay for their sins?
Pay attention that the Sons of God in the Old Testament didn't have to go Hades? They just went into Paradise, to wait for their total redemption. None of the Sons of God in the Old Testament were sent to Hades. Abel, Enoch, Noah, none of the prophets,
See, Enoch, Elijah, never saw physical death; do you think they were sent to Hades? No, we see Elijah & Moses, who did died physically having a conference with Jesus up on a mountain Mat 17:3, apparently they were moving free in the spiritual realm.
See what you understand of the following passages…
Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, PURGE YOUR CONSCIENCE FROM DEAD works to serve the living God?
18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
BY WHICH WILL WE HAVE BEEN SANCTIFIED THROUGH THE OFFERING OF THE BODY OF JESUS ONCE FOR ALL.
Heb 10:11 Every priest indeed stands day by day serving and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins, 12 but He, when He had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOREVER, sat down on the right hand of God; 14 For BY ONE OFFERING He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
Those passages & others clearly explain that the sacrifice required by God to redeem mankind from sin was a blood sacrifice offered by a pure sinless man which Jesus, God in the flesh offered himself & that was enough.
The argument that: man had to pay in hell for Adam’s transgression, doesn’t hold grown when we see that the Saints in the Old Testament didn't have to suffer in Hades, Yahweh said: the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. (Gen 2:17).
Adam did not die physically the same day he ate the forbidden fruit, but his physical body began to die, and sin took root in humanity and man was separated from the presence of God and death entered the world. And men certainly died, their physical body died, they suffered all the curses of Gen 3:16-19, besides being separated from the presence of God. But all men that professed FAITH in God the Creator, since Abel, Seth, Cainan, Enoch, Lamec, Noah, Shem, Job, Abraham & all Saints in the Old Testament having had testimony given to them through their faith, went to Paradise not to God’s presence yet, & didn’t receive the promise as God having provided some better thing concerning us New Testament believers, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Heb 11:39-40
Hey but doesn’t the Scripture says Jesus’ soul was in Hades? Acts 2:41 His soul would not be left in Hades, or hell, as many Bible translations incorrectly say? Yes He was, but the Bible does tell us what Jesus went to do under the Earth after his crucifixion & physical death. Jesus went into those lower places under the Earth, not to be chastised for sin, but to witness to the spirits and bring some of them up to Heaven with Him…
Eph 4:8-10 Therefore he says, “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.”
9 Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
1Pe 3:18-20 Because Christ once went through pain for sins, the upright one taking the place of sinners, so that through him we might come back to God; being put to death in the flesh, but given life in the Spirit; By whom He went to the spirits in prison, preaching to those, who, in the days of Noah, went against God's orders; but God in his mercy kept back the punishment, while Noah got ready the ark, in which a small number, that is to say eight persons, got salvation through water: (Think for a minute: How could He preach to those captive spirits if He was being tormented by the devil?)
1Pe 4:6 For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.
Let’s remember, when Jesus was dying on the cross He proclaimed: All is done! And as Peter writes: Christ once went through pain for sins,
Jn 19:30 So when Jesus had taken the wine he said, All is done. And with his head bent he gave up his spirit.
Meaning that what had to be done according to the Law of the Old Covenant to pay for the sins of the world got accomplished on the Cross.
We then, after his Resurrection, see all saints in Heaven before God's Throne in Revelations 7:9-10 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
After Jesus redeemed God's Children with his Death and Resurrection, then also the Saints from the Old Testament could go before the presence of the Father, & not to Abraham's bosom.
Paul taught that, we Children of God, go into God's presence when our physical body dies…
Phil 1:21-23 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will bring fruit from my work; yet I don’t know what I will choose. But I am hard pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better
2Cor 5:1-6 For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. For most certainly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed being clothed, we will not be found naked. For indeed we who are in this tent do groan, being burdened, not that we desire to be unclothed, but that we desire to be clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.
Jesus' victory over the enemy was accomplished at the cross.
Col 2:13-15 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us. He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. Having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (right there ON THE CROSS).
The Resurrection of Jesus gave credibility to God & all the Scriptures in the Old Testament that everything Jesus ever taught & did is from God the Father Himself, that’s where all the New Testament receives its power.
I pray those Scriptures will help you see under the light of God’s Word, that Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross was all God required to bring His Children back into fellowship with Him, & I think it will take us years to realize or understand how much it really cost to the Father, & Son, to go through the heavy pain & humiliation of Calvary. It should be obvious to us that God got all the results He came to look for, in redeeming mankind, so that when we by His Loving grace receive faith & confess Jesus as Lord of our life, we then are saved & become Heirs of God together with Jesus, through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life Hallelujah! Rom 10:9-10 Tit 3:4-7
Love in Jesus… Alejandro
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